Surgical and non-surgical procedures for improving appearance have increased in prevalence as populations age and gain weight. Liposuction is a popular cosmetic surgery procedure and involves the surgical removal of fat deposits using suction and optionally assisted by solutions to assist in fat removal. Liposuction is a surgical procedure that removes fat through an incision in the skin through which a cannula is inserted. The cannula is connected to a suction source and the unwanted fat is aspirated through the cannula and discarded. Liposuction is performed under general or local anesthesia, depending on the amount and location of the fat to be removed. However, liposuction and other surgical methods of fat removal are associated with significant adverse events including temporary bruising, swelling, numbness, soreness and burning sensation, risk of infection, pigmentation changes, the formation of fat clots or blood clots which can migrate to the lungs and cause death, excessive fluid loss, which can lead to shock or fluid accumulation that must be drained, friction burns or other damage to the skin or nerves or perforation injury to the vital organs. Additionally, liposuction requires a recovery time of one to two weeks wherein the patient cannot work or perform certain daily activities. Moreover, because surgical procedures such as liposuction require local and occasionally general anesthesia, significant anesthesia-related risks are associated with surgical fat removal. Furthermore, liposuction and other drastic weight loss methods may result in loose skin.
Therefore it would be desirable to have compositions and methods for removing localized fat accumulations that does not require surgery or prolonged recovery time as well as for tightening loose skin.